Elementary student kicked off bus as form of discipline, mother says

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Rock Hill bus driver has been suspended and is accused of letting a student off the bus in the middle of the route.

Family members of the 9-year-old girl said that she got in trouble on the way to school Wednesday morning.

They said the driver's form of discipline went way too far.

The mother said the driver not only kicked her daughter off the bus, but drove away.

The girl is safe, but her mother said things could’ve been much different.

“I just thank God that my baby is OK,” Barbara Nash said.

She said her daughter Trinity was riding the bus to Bellevue Elementary School when the driver faced discipline issues with several students, and told her daughter to move to the front.

She said Trinity argued with the driver, who then threatened to kick her off the bus.

“And Trinity said, ‘Well, I can,’ and when she said, ‘I can,’ she must have stopped the bus,” Nash said.

That's when Trinity got off the bus in a wooded area and the driver drove away, the mother said.

“She let her off, she's only 9 years old,” Nash said.

Her daughter wasn't off the bus for long, possibly even for seconds, but even that was too long, the mother said.

“Anything could've happened,” Nash said. “It was a wooded area with no houses on the road. She let her off, and anything could've been out in the woods and could've harmed my baby.”

Rock Hill Schools district officials said they're investigating an alleged incident.

Officials said they wouldn't speculate why or how the student was removed, only that they shouldn't be removed.

That driver is suspended with pay as officials investigate this incident.

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